Baseball pitcher{3 s practice device

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a device for simulating baseball pitching conditions and more particularly to a novel device constructed to represent true baseball pitching conditions by use of a three-dimensional batter in conjunction with an adjustable rectangular &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;strike zone.

United States Patent Inventor David Doynow 31 Sherbrooke Road,Hartsdale, NY. 10530 Appl. No. 877,706

Filed Nov. 18, 1969 Patented Jan. 11, 1972 BASEBALL PITCHERS PRACTICEDEVICE 2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 273/26 A Int. Cl A63b 69/40 Field of Search... 273/26 AReferences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1927 Stauffer 273/26 A1,879,316 9/1932 Kleb 273/26 A 2,944,816 7/1960 Dixon 273/26 A 2,978,2464/1961 Gronningen 273/26 A 3,341,197 9/1967 Bottorff 273/26 A 3,039,7706/1962 Ferretti 273/26 A Primary ExaminerRichard C. Pinkham AssistantExaminerTheatrice Brown Attorney-Pennie, Edmonds, Morton, Taylor andAdams ABSTRACT: This invention relates to a device for simulatingbaseball pitching conditions and more particularly to a novel deviceconstructed to represent true baseball pitching conditions by use of athree-dimensional batter in conjunction with an adjustable rectangularstrike zone."

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INVENTOR David Do now 7% f BY 7764 WATTORNEYS BASEBALL PITCIIERSPRACTICE DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the InventionThis invention relates to a baseball-pitching simulator, and moreparticularly to a machine representative of real playing conditions forteaching the art of pitching in a baseball game.

2. Description of the Prior Art Baseball pitching devices sometimes arereferred to as pitching targets are employed to develop and improvepitching control and accuracy. They are also employed as a family game.

Such pitching devices usually comprise a piece of flexible materialmounted on and held erect by a wooden or tubular frame, the mountedmaterial having holes therein. The device may have figures of players,such as catchers and batters, drawn on the flexible material in anattempt to depict playing conditions and the ball is to be thrown at thepictured scene.

These various pitching targets have been found to be un satisfactory toteach the art of baseball pitching because they do not provide thelifelike simulation of conditions necessary to teach and improve thepitching ability of students of the game. Persons pitching baseballs atthe existing devices encounter great difficulty attempting to determinewhether or not a ball has struck that part of the flexible materialthrough which there is no aperture but yet constitutes a part of thestrike zone" thereby leaving to conjecture and surmise what is or is nota strike. The game of baseball is an exacting one and in fact is oftenreferred to as the game of inches so that in teaching the art ofpitching, the teaching device must be one capable of exactitude and notone that causes confusion and speculation.

The art of throwing a baseball, however, is more than pitching strikes,one must also learn control. The fact that figures were drawn on theflexible material of some of the prior devices did not aid in theteaching control but rather detracted therefrom because, here to, it wasleft to speculation whether a batter was or was not hit with a pitch.

My invention overcomes these problems because, the strike zone" isexactly delineated and adjustable, thereby providing a teaching devicewhich demands the necessary exacting standards in that immediate andaccurate information is obtained as to whether or not the pitch thrownwas a strike. My invention also aids in teaching control because theinherent fear children and adults have of hitting the batter isplacated, in that the guesswork of when a batter is hit is gone therebyproviding the student with the opportunity to correct his faults andlearn control free from the psychological distraction of the possibilityof causing harm to a live batter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I have invented a device consisting of alife-size, threedimensional figure in a batting position which isremovably mounted on a base. The life-size, three-dimensional figure ismounted in a batting position in relation to an adjustable rectangularframe. The area within the inner perimeter of the adjustable rectangularframe exactly delineates a strike zone." A ball passing through thisarea would denote a strike. This pitching simulator achieves trueplaying conditions because a catcher can assume a catching position ashe would in a real contest behind the rectangular frame, defining thestrike zone," provide a glove target for the ball to be thrown to andreturn each pitch, thereby providing a threedimensional, true to life,playing simulation with exacting standards rather than the speculativetwo-dimensional one provided for by prior devices.

The advantages achieved by my invention are many. Much of the mastery ofthe art of pitching is psychological, my invention presents a conditionaffording perception, that is, the student is pitching to a batter andthereby obtaining a feel" of the game. Accuracy and control areparamount in achieving the art of pitching and my invention providesexacting standards. A student would know whenever a batter is hit andwould know whenever the ball passes through the "strike zone he haspitched a strike. The "strike zone is fully adjustable to achieve thevariety of strike zones" due to the varying sizes of players, a pitchermay face during a game.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a front elevation of oneembodiment of the pitching simulator.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of another embodiment of the pitchingsimulator.

It will be understood that the above drawings merely illustrate twopreferred embodiments of the invention and that other embodiments arecontemplated within the scope of the claims hereinafter set forth.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT One embodiment is depicted inFIG. I, referring to FIG. I, the pitching simulator comprises athree-dimensional manikin 1 having a relativedegree of durability beingcomposed of a synthetic material. The three-dimensional manikin 1 may becomposed of vinyl plastic inflatable by pumping air into it, a metaltubular frame with a plastic covering, plastic, wood, polyurethane foam,hard rubber or metalqThe manikin l is removably mounted on base 2, thebase 2 may be composed of wood, metal, plastic, polyurethane foam, or beof a metal tubular construction. The manikin I is attached to the base 2by means of a strap 3, the strap 3 being connected to the base 2. Thestrap 3 may be leather, heavy canvas, plastic or any other flexiblematerial sufficient to hold said manikin I erect and in a battingposition. There are two straps 3, which may also be a series of straps,connected to the base on either side of the homeplate 4 to afford thesimulation of a rightor lefthanded batter, the straps 3 are located inthe batters box" (not shown in drawing). The batters box" would be drawnonto the base 2 on either'side of the homeplate 4 designating that areain which a batter is to stand while batting. The homeplate 4 and battersbox having'the dimensions conforming to the major leagues baseballregulations and the homeplate" 4 being either drawn on the base 2attached thereto and composed of wood, plastic, metal, hard rubber orpolyurethane foam. Connected to and detachable from the homeplate" 4. isa spring 5 which is adapted to accept leg 6 of the adjustablerectangular frame 7 to hold the frame 7 in a parallel relationship tothe manikin l. The spring 5 affords resiliency to the leg 6 andrectangular frame 7 so that if either the leg 6 of any part of therectangular frame 7 is struck by a pitched baseball, the spring 5 willabsorb the resultant shock. The spring 5 may be eliminated from thedevice and instead a bore would be provided through the'center ofhomeplate" 4 said bore adapted to accept the leg 60f said rectangularframe 7. The rectangular frame 7 is in two sections, an upper section 8and a lower section 9, each-consisting of a horizontal end member andtwo vertical side members. Each of the side members of the upper sectionis connected to a side member of the lower section by a telescopingmeans and affording a rectangular shape, the inner area of said frame 7exactly delineating the strike zone 10. The telescoping means 12 isadjusted by loosening the adjustment screws 12'adjusting the strike zoneto the desired position and tightening said adjustment screws 12'. Saidrectangular frame 7 may be composed of tubular metal, wood, tubularplastic, solid plastic, hard'rubber or polyurethane'foam. Saidrectangular frame 7 may also be provided with a detachable net 11 orcanvas bag to catch and retain any balls thrown through' the strikezone" 10.

Another embodiment is depicted in FIG. 2, referring to FIG. 2, thepitching simulator comprises an adjustablethree-dimensional manikincomposed of vinyl plastic having two separate compartments on upper 21and a lower 22 which are inflatable by pumping air into them so that thedistance between the manikins 20 shoulders and knees may be varied byvarying the amount of air pumped into the compartments.

The manikin 20 may be composed of a metal tubular frame with a plasticcovering with telescoping means on the tubular frame of plastic, wood,polyurethane foam, hard rubber or metal with insertable parts to varyits height. The manikin 20 is attached to a lever spring 23 which springis removably connected to the base 24. The lever spring may be connectedto the base on either side of homeplate 25 to afford the simulation of arightor left-handed batter. Connected to and detachable from homeplate25 is a leg 26 having an upper 27 and lower 28 portion connected with atelescoping means 33 so as to vary the height of the rectangular frame28 and to hold the frame 28 in a parallel relationship to the adjustablemanikin 20. The telescoping means 33 is adjusted by loosening theadjustment screws 33', adjusting said telescoping means 33 to thedesired position and then tightening said adjustment screws 33'. Therectangular frame 28 is in two sections, an upper section 29 and a lowersection 30, each consisting of a horizontal end member and two verticalside members. Each of the side members of the upper section is connectedto a side member of the lower section by a telescoping means 34 andaffording a rectangular shape, the inner area of said frame 28 exactlydelineating the strike zone 31. The telescoping means 34 is adjusted byloosening the adjustment screws 34, adjusting said telescoping means 34to the desired position and then tightening said adjustment screws 34'.

lt is to be noted that this device is to be completely disassembled toafford easy storage.

lt is also to be noted that this device can be used utilizing one ormore of its parts, that is, with or without the manikin, with or withoutthe strike zone, or with or without the manikin and strike zone.

lclaim:

. An adjustable baseball-pitching simulator comprising:

a base; a three-dimensional, life-size manikin being composed ofsynthetic material and removably mounted on said base, said manikin alsobeing provided with a means for varying its height; and

. a rectangular frame having side and end members and a athree-dimensional, life-size manikin being composed of syntheticmaterial and removably mounted on said base, said manikin also beingprovided with a means for varying its height; and

. a rectangular frame having side and end members and a leg extendingfrom one of said end members, said leg being provided with a telescopingmeans, the inner area of said frame defining a strike zone, said legmember being romovably mounted on said base at a location whichpositions the frame in substantially strike zone" relation to saidmanikin and the side members of said frame being constructed andarranged such that their lengths may be adjusted to vary the area of thestrike zone defined by said frame.

1. An adjustable baseball-pitching simulator comprising: a. a base; b. athree-dimensional, life-size manikin being composed of syntheticmaterial and removably mounted on said base, said manikin also beingprovided with a means for varying its height; and c. a rectangular framehaving side and end members and a leg member extending from one of saidend members, the inner area of said frame defining a ''''strikezone,'''' said leg member being removably mounted on said base at alocation which positions the frame in substantially ''''strike zone''''relation to said manikin and the side members of said frame beingconstructed and arranged such that their lengths may be adjusted to varythe area of the ''''strike zone'''' defined by said frame.
 2. Anadjustable baseball-pitching simulator comprising: a. a base; b. athree-dimensional, life-size manikin being composed of syntheticmaterial and removably mounted on said base, said manikin also beingprovided with a means for varying its height; and c. a rectangular framehaving side and end members and a leg extending from one of said endmembers, said leg being provided with a telescoping means, the innerarea of said frame defining a ''''strike zone,'''' said leg member beingromovably mounted on said base at a location which positions the framein substantially ''''strike zone'''' relation to said manikin and theside members of said frame being constructed and arranged such thattheir lengths may be adjusted to vary the area of the ''''strikezone'''' defined by said frame.